Bad Bat and the Houseboat.

This Summer, Camilla found herself at the lake. Her Mom and
Dad had rented a houseboat, which is just what it sounds
like: a cross between a house and a boat.

They went on board the houseboat. Camilla was going
to sleep in a bunkbed.

“A bunkbed on a houseboat!” said Camilla out
loud. “How silly!”

Before they left the dock, they had to do some housework:
First, they put the watermelon in the sink. Second, they blew
up the floats. And, third, they drove the boat to the
far coast of the lake. Camilla even got a chance to drive the
boat herself, which made her very proud.

At last, it was time for a swim! Camilla was told to go to her
bedroom and get her swimsuitout from her suitcase.

She found her suitcase. It was on the bunkbed.

She opened her suitcase. She took out her sundress.
She took out her raincoat. At last, she found her
swimsuit! Then, out flew Bad Bat! Bad Bat was hiding in
her suitcase!

“Oh no!” groaned Camilla. “Now the boat trip will be
spoiled!”

Camilla told her Dad that Bad Bat was on board the boat.
Her Dad said, “You tell Bad Bat that he cannot be on the houseboat.
One of the rules is that there are no pets allowed on the boat.”

“But, Dad,” said Camilla, “Bad Bat is not a pet. He is a pest!”

Camilla was right.

During the trip, Bad Bat did many things that were bad: He dropped
the watermelon into the lake. He ate the cupcakes that
were for Mom’s birthday. He also spilled rootbeer into
the ice-cream. Camilla found out that rootbeer
in ice-cream tasted pretty good, but it was still a bad thing
for Bad Bat to do.

Three days later, they drove the houseboat back to the dock.
It was time to go home.

Camilla got into the car and buckled her seatbelt. Her sister
and brother got in and buckled their seatbelts, too. So did her
Mom and Dad. But Bad Bat was nowhere to be found. Had
they left him at the far coast? No. He was back in Camilla’s
suitcase!